Cairo Court accepts appeal of Wafaa Makky’s ten-year prison term and calls for a retrial

A criminal court in north of Cairo-Egypt has accepted an appeal submitted by Egyptian actress Wafaa Makki,for her conviction to a ten-year prison term, after being found guilty of torturing her house maid, according to the London based daily Al Sharq Al Awsat. The court called for a retrial for the case against Wafaa along with her mother and other family members. The family of the actress took the news with overwhelming joy screaming “Justice has been met” in the courtroom. 

It was previously reported that the criminal court will decide on December 16th on the appeal submitted by Egyptian actress Wafaa Makki,for her conviction to a ten-year prison term. 

Thirty-six year old actress was convicted in December 2002 for torturing her two housemaids, sisters (Marwa, 16, and Hanadi Abdul Hamid, 19), in collaboration with her 57- year old mother, who was also convicted for a one-year imprisonment sentence for being involved in the case. Other relatives who were involved with Makki, helping her in torturing the maids, were also sentenced to a one-year imprisonment.  

Last December, the Criminal Court in the Egyptian governorate of Al Munofiyah issued the 10-year imprisonment verdict against Makki, who was apprehended after weeks of fleeing along with her mother. In the court, Makki fell down unconscious hearing the verdict, and was then moved along with her mother to the women jail at Al Qanater area.  

The case goes back to last September when passer-byes found one of the two maids (Marwa) lying down unconscious and wounded near the rail road; moved her to the hospital and notified the concerned authorities. Investigations revealed that Marwa and her sister Hanadi were harshly beaten by Makki after they accidently walked in on the actress with another man in an indecent situation inside her room.  

The incident, which aroused the Egyptian public opinion last year, spurred the Actors Association to issue a resolution barring Makki from acting upon her conviction. Many Egyptian newspapers and magazines have published detailed reports on the incident with pictures of torture seen on the maids’ bodies. – Albawaba.com